VIDEO

Lakenheath students test robot's mettle in run up to tech challenge

The Robo Lancers' robot prepares to drop a block into a box as part of a demonstration of the robot's abilities on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, at Lakenheath High School, England. The team of students from Lakenheath plans to compete at a tournament in Germany on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014.

RAF LAKENHEATH, England — Students at RAF Lakenheath, England, demonstrated the abilities of a robot they will enter in the FIRST Tech Challenge, a competition among Department of Defense Dependent Schools.

Members of the team showed visitors to Lakenheath High School on Monday what their robot could do. It picked up blocks and placed them in boxes, and it raised a flag and lifted itself off the ground by hanging onto a pole.

Anita Lang, a teacher at the school, said she proposed students enter the competition in September, and the team has worked on the robot during class and after school.

The team raised almost $4,000 to participate in the competition — For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST — which takes place Saturday in Munich, Germany.